In the web, deep linking refers to the use of hyperlinks that link to a specific web page (or other web content), other than the home page, on a website. Mobile deep links provide a similar experience for mobile apps. Mobile deep links point to a specific location in a mobile app. A mobile deep link can launch an app that is already installed on a user's mobile device or it can directly open a specific location within the app.
While mobile deep links can provide some of the functionality of web deep links, current mobile deep link technology has a number of significant limitations. For example, in order to support mobile deep links, a developer may be required to write code for each deep link to be supported by the app. In addition, such mobile deep links are statically defined and only support linking to the specific locations within the app that are defined by the developer. These limitations result in limited coverage (a small number of locations within an app, predefined by the developer, that are directly accessible by deep links).
Therefore, there exists ample opportunity for improvement in technologies related to deep linking in mobile applications.